


raging in a dying ember

by withthekeyisking



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Anger, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 11:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20619929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withthekeyisking/pseuds/withthekeyisking
Summary: Dick doesn’t think he's ever been so quiet in his entire life.





	raging in a dying ember

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nxttime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nxttime/gifts).

Dick doesn’t think he's ever been so quiet in his entire life.

Around him, he watches his family move, cleaning up, chatting with each other in hushed tones, occasionally glancing over at him. They don’t speak to him, don’t approach, and he keeps his eyes fixed on the ground where the--

_ (his breath hitches) _

\--body was just a few minutes ago. The stain of blood is vivid and bright against the white carpet. It matches her hair, he notes faintly.

He doesn’t make a sound. He doesn’t move. He barely _ breathes. _Because he knows if he does, he knows if he does--

Bruce’s boots step into Dick’s field of vision but he doesn’t lift his gaze. He won’t be able to stop himself if he looks at Bruce, he won’t be able to stop, and he’s trying so hard right now to keep it together. He doesn’t need anything else making it harder. He’s just--he’s trying so hard.

“Dick-” his father begins, and Dick has never been so thankful for Jason Todd when Red Hood’s shoes appear too, placing himself between the Bat and the man sitting on the ground, arms propped up on his bent knees, feet flat on the floor, back against the wall.

Dick doesn’t move. If he moves he will snap.

He’s trying _ so hard-- _

Slowly, one by one, they all leave. He doesn’t pay attention to what they say. He doesn’t acknowledge the ones who murmur his name. He doesn’t watch them push this madness to the back of their minds.

His _ madness _ is only growing.

There’s still one more person in the room with him. He knows they’re there, but he doesn’t care who or why or where. He keeps breathing. He keeps himself still. He doesn’t say anything.

He’s never been so quiet in his entire life.

The person walks over to him, and it’s Jason’s shoes again. The younger boy stops in front of him more a moment, not speaking, and then sits down beside him. He mirrors Dick’s position. He looks straight ahead, just like Dick.

The room remains silent.

Dick breathes and he breathes and he breathes, ignoring the roaring in his head that is steadily rising, ignoring the way his hands want to shake, ignoring everything that’s happened in the last two hours.

It’s fine. He’s fine. It’s all fine.

He tastes something sour at the back of his throat. His heart begins to speed up against his wishes, his fingers tingling with suppressed adrenaline. The roaring in his head steadily grows as his mind replays everything that just happened.

He sees it all, over and over and over again.

He sees Bruce miss the gun.

He hears himself call a warning.

He watches her fall.

And Dick just breathes and breathes and breathes until he simply can’t any more, until there is no simply _ breathing, _ until his blood is pounding in his ears and his head and _ roaring-- _

Quietly, steady as anything, Dick gets to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Jason’s head tilt slightly, just enough for his eyes to track Dick’s movements.

For a moment, Dick just stands there.

And then he punches the wall.

From there, the dam has broken, and he can’t stop. With violent, screaming rage, he destroys everything in the room, all of the furniture being torn to pieces, all of the pretty pictures smashed on the ground.

Through it all, Jason just sits there, not flinching as Dick breaks the world around them, as Dick himself _ breaks. _ He watches and he waits.

When there’s nothing left to destroy, Dick stands there, staring over the mess, staring at all the things that just a few hours ago had been prized possessions and now mean absolutely _ nothing _ to him.

He looks down at his bloody hands and the roaring in his brain begins to quiet, the adrenaline washing away and leaving him numb.

He sits back down next to Jason.

Neither of them say a word.


End file.
